Is it possible to use my iMac 2009 24” as a monitor for a Mac mini m1 chip?

lesssliiieee wrote:

Hi all! Is it possible to use my imac 2009 24” as a monitor with mac mini m1 chip? Thank you

No.

The iMac is old enough, but the Mac mini M1 2020 is too new.

Details: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

RE: "What can you recommend mac mini that i can use with this monitor?"

I wouldn't choose the Mac Mini based on the ability to reuse a 24" Early 2009 iMac as a 1920x1200 TDM display. You'd have to buy an old Intel-based Mac Mini (introduced in 2019 or earlier), run macOS 15 Catalina or earlier – with all this implies for (lack of) security patches and (not) being able to get compatible versions of some major modern applications, all to reuse a 14-year-old display that is low-end by today's standards, and that could kick the bucket at any time.

I would choose an Apple Silicon Mac and then look for a screen to go with it.

I don't know what your budget allows, what you might want in terms of screen space, or what you might want in terms of high resolution. I'm using an iMac with a 27" 2560x1440 (2.5K) screen and can say that once you get used to the screen space, you don't want to go back to anything smaller. My personal preference would be for 27" 2560x1440 (2.5K), 5120x2880 (5K), or 3840x2160 (4K) screens. (5K being ideal for Retina quality, but not so much for monitor price and selection.)

But let me just toss out some options here. If you're happy with a standard-resolution display, here's a 24" Dell IPS monitor with 1920x1200 resolution (same as your 24" iMac), 99% sRGB coverage, and two modern types of video inputs (DisplayPort, HDMI).

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-24-monitor-p2423/apd/210-bdkc/monitors-monitor-accessories

Here's one that's the same price ($315), but is a 27" monitor with 2560x1440 resolution, and good coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut (wide gamut) as well as of sRGB.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-27-monitor-u2722d/apd/210-ayze/monitors-monitor-accessories

There's the 24" M1 iMac. It has a really nice 4.5K Retina screen. One drawback is that you wouldn't be able to reuse that screen with a newer Mac. Another is that it's not yet available in a M2 or M2 Pro version. This would matter if you wanted 24 or 32 GB of RAM or if you wanted four USB-C ports (as on the M2 Pro Mini).

iMac 24-inch - Apple

These are just a few examples.

lesssliiieee wrote:

Thank you! What can you recommend mac mini that i can use with this monitor? I prefer to us mac os big sur

A Mac mini 2020 cannot use an iMac as a display, independent of the macOS software it is running.

For a display purchases, I happen to like the LG displays, though Samsung and others have fine choices. If you have the budget for it, Apple makes excellent displays, too.

A TV will also work as a display via an HDMI cable from the Mac, though a 1080p TV is low resolution these days. Native resolution on that iMac 24” 2009 is 1920 x 1200, which is very close to 1080p resolution (1080p: 1920 x 1080).

Here are the display support connections, requirements, and limits for the Mac mini M1 2020 model:

lesssliiieee wrote:

Thank you! What can you recommend mac mini that i can use with this monitor? I prefer to us mac os big sur

The M1 and M2 Mac mini’s, do not support Big Sur or using an iMac as a display.

RE: "The M1 and M2 Mac mini’s, do not support Big Sur or using an iMac as a display."

Small correction.

The M1 Mac Mini originally shipped with Big Sur. If you have one with a later OS installed, it may be possible to downgrade to Big Sur using a "clean install." That still wouldn't allow the Mini to use an iMac as a TDM display.

The M2 Mac Mini originally shipped with Ventura and cannot run earlier versions of macOS.

That is true of the originally released 2020 M1 Mac mini.

Our 2020 M1 Mac mini that was purchased in early 2022, came with macOS 13 Monterey from the factory.

Can’t say for sure if that M1 Mac mini can be taken back down to Big Sur or not. But I’m not going to try because that would be counter productive.

Nope' you will need an external display for a Mac mini.

You can however, use most any external display with the Mac mini.

see > Connect a display to Mac mini - Apple Support